"A maz'ing Tirana"
Tirana by sulamiph

- What would you think of a friend, if the friend wishes you to spent a night on the tiles? Would you imagine yourself sleeping in a place like the one on this snapshot, taken in Tirana, or in one of the showrooms of SICIS? In any case, to spend a night on the tiles doesn't sound like a reasonable wish, unless ... you know that it is the way how an English would wish somebody to have a lively night out.

Tile is not as good as a figure of speech, as it is as a figure of decoration and protection. The snapshot from Tirana illustrates most of the functions of tile. The remains of the metal tile on the roof still protect from the rain, which could be very long and strong in Tirana, and from the snow, that could happen very rarely and not stay long.

The ceramic tile on the wall is not so much for protection as for decoration, information, and illustration. Is any of the written information on the building true? Is it a real Italian Factory of Tile? Is it the tile of Italian production? We may just guess, but what we see is the way that an unknown artist put the tile on a wall. We do see how he made this dilapidated and falling apart house look like an art installation, deserving a place in the world best museums of contemporary art.

Tirana doesn't have a museum of contemporary art, but the city itself is like this kind of museum of this kind of art . Abstract paintings on Tirana's buildings, displays of tiles and tires; of bicycles on the Bicycle street and fixtures on the Electrical street. Piles of second hand clothing and "carpets" of multicolored hats, belts, and flip-flops.

The National Gallery of Arts in Tirana has a good collection of paintings made during the communist regime in the social realism style. As any pre-modern art, they reflect the ideals of their time. The spontaneous and chaotic art of Tirana's streets today reflects the exciting process of anarchic creativity, the quick and unsteady pace of occupation of all possible space and surface for putting a foot in the door, which is suppose to lead to the privatizing of it.

As one of our friend says: Albanian people were dreaming for almost 50 years about doing this and that, if they would be allowed. So, when the regime collapsed, they started right away to realize their dreams, not waiting for any permissions, or general plans. What wasn't prohibited they consider as being allowed... and they gave Tirana the look of the second hand store: every piece in this "store" is different. You never get tired to wander though it and to discover something new all the time.

Nothing is forever. The process of putting things in order has been started and is going on, adding to the picture of chaotic construction the pictures of randomly done destruction, looking like after a precise bombing...

Tirana became a capital city after the First World War, and the Albanian King managed to decorate it with a few palaces. After the Second World War, when the communists took over, Tirana in general was ?a jumble of crazy mud brick houses.? By the times of Edi Rama, who was chosen World Mayor of 2004, and who converted Tirana into the biggest-in-the-world free-of-charge outdoor exhibition of abstract expressionism, Tirana didn?t have any architectural wonders, but she had a lot of dilapidated, dull, concrete and brick apartment buildings. Edi Rama was an artist and when he became Tirana?s mayor, he commissioned himself and some other artists, including Olafur Eliasson of Denmark, to create the colorful make-up for faceless Tirana. This is why and how the walls of many buildings became the canvas for Tirana Biennale-2003 and how Tirana became a big attraction for everybody appreciating art and creativity. Lowell Lander arrived in Tirana to work in 2003. He was immediately drawn to the painted buildings and began to photograph them. He reorganized bits of the photos rhythmically and symmetrically to create a beautiful and harmonious whole, and new patterns emerged and created another level of visual interest. This other level of visual interest was noticed by Natalia Korn, who translated Lowell Lander?s photos of Tirana?s painted buildings into designs for the silk scarves and ties, creating the new fashion and confirming what Coco Chanel once said, ?Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportion?. Tirana is ?dressed? in art, and it makes her unforgettable, so whether you put on, or make a gift of your scarf from triQita you will be dressed in art, or presenting art, and with all the quality and the story coming along, you will also be unforgettable.

Tirana became a capital city after the First World War, and the Albanian King managed to decorate it with a few palaces. After the Second World War, when the communists took over, Tirana in general was ?a jumble of crazy mud brick houses.? By the times of Edi Rama, who was chosen World Mayor of 2004, and who converted Tirana into the biggest-in-the-world free-of-charge outdoor exhibition of abstract expressionism, Tirana didn?t have any architectural wonders, but she had a lot of dilapidated, dull, concrete and brick apartment buildings. Edi Rama was an artist and when he became Tirana?s mayor, he commissioned himself and some other artists, including Olafur Eliasson of Denmark, to create the colorful make-up for faceless Tirana. This is why and how the walls of many buildings became the canvas for Tirana Biennale-2003 and how Tirana became a big attraction for everybody appreciating art and creativity. Tirana is ?dressed? in art, and it makes her unforgettable. In Sheraton Tirana hotel is a big display of silk scarves and silk ties which designs comes from the photos of Tirana's painted buildings. The corresponding photos of the buildings are also right there. So, not only Tirana is dressed in art, but everybody can decorate him/herself with the artistic accessories, deriving from Tirana's art. Since the mayor after 8 years of decorating Tirana left his position, Tirana will change her facade in some time, and only silk souvenirs will remind about her Ti Rama times.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Lively, easy going, amazing, unique, relaxed and relaxing

Cons:Could be much cleaner, greener, with more parks and squares, and better drivers

In a nutshell:Tirana is a place to feel, to observe, to analyze, to listen. She is not beautiful, but charming.